


"the only ten i see"

by never_bloom_again



Series: @abitcriminalminds 1k prompt drabbles! [16]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Cute, Derek Morgan gives bad advice, Flirting, Fluff, Insecurity, M/M, Sweet, but it all works out in the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27294022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/never_bloom_again/pseuds/never_bloom_again
Summary: for the prompt “Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?”Spencer has been acting weirdly.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid
Series: @abitcriminalminds 1k prompt drabbles! [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958302
Comments: 8
Kudos: 129





	"the only ten i see"

**Author's Note:**

> fjkfsdh this is far from the best, but i hope you enjoy regardless!!

“Uh, Hotch? If I could rearrange the alphabet, I’d put ‘U’ and ‘I’ together.”

The moment was running through repeat in Aaron’s head. Spencer had said that to him as he handed over his files before leaving.

It was strange, remarkably un-Spencer-like. He was never flirty, not like Morgan and Garcia, and even if he were, it was never towards him. The pick up line was remarkably forward for the young man as well - Spencer tended to be subtle in his affection, even platonically, and Aaron had always assumed he was far too shy and awkward to ever use something like that. The best explanation Aaron’s mind could come up with was that Spencer had been dared to do it, by someone else on the team. Probably Prentiss or Morgan. He couldn’t let himself entertain the other possibility.

There was nothing more for the next week, so Aaron decided to dismiss the incident as a one off. That was, until it happened again. They were disembarking the plane, and given the hour, instead of returning to the office, they were going straight home. Spencer was walking to his car alongside Aaron, both slightly back from the rest of the team.

“Are you from Tennessee? Because you are the only ten I see.”

Although still shocked by it, being the second time it had happened, Aaron recovered quicker, allowing him to notice, even in the darkness, that Spencer’s cheeks were a soft red and that his big doe eyes were looking down at the ground bashfully. He looked so nervous, it was adorable. Aaron tried to ignore the way his heart fluttered at the line.

Trying not to humiliate Spencer, in what he was sure was an awkward situation, he smiled slightly, and softly said a quick good night, before getting in his car. 

Once Spencer had driven away, and he was alone in the parking lot, he leant forward, his head resting on the steering wheel.

Aaron was a control freak. He would admit that easily. He liked to know what was happening, who was involved, and why. He knew none of that for this, he only knew that that the man he… had feelings for, was using pick up lines on him, out of nowhere, for no conceivable reason other than a dare, which even still seemed a stretch, given there was no one there to ensure he had followed through.

There was nothing he could do about it though, not without coming clean and facing his feelings, or risking humiliating Spencer, which he could never do.

On the third occasion, however, of these strange, awkward pick up lines, Aaron decided he could no longer leave it be.

“Reid, are you flirting with me?”

He wasn’t sure if he wanted a yes or a no - the majority of him wanted to hear a yes, because then Aaron wasn’t being presumptuous asking, Spencer wasn’t being forced into uncomfortable situations by his colleagues, and his feelings could be requited. But at the same time, he didn’t want Spencer to have feelings for him, didn’t want Spencer to end up caught in the mess that was his life, when he could do so much better - when he deserved so much.

“You finally noticed!” Spencer gave him a nervous smile, before continuing to talk. “I, I told Morgan that I really liked this person, and that I wanted them to know, but I didn’t know how to tell them, so he told me I should flirt with them and use pick up lines, and he gave me this list of them, but they were all really bad, so I tried to pick the best ones, and I wasn’t sure they were working, and it felt really weird, but he told me they would work, so I tried, and I’m really sorry, if you want me to stop, or leave, or anything, I can! I-”

Aaron swallowed back a laugh at the story - of course the pick up lines had been Morgan’s idea, even if Reid had been a willing participant in their use. Hearing that Spencer liked him, however, was doing things to his resolve not to ruin Spencer by becoming involved with him, especially when he sounded so insecure, so unsure.

“Reid, calm down,” Aaron said, trying to cut off the nervous rambling. While it was normally nice to see Spencer passionate about something to the point of rambling, when it was over his nerves, Aaron didn’t like it. He didn’t know what to say, so he leaned in and kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! please leave a comment/kudos to let me know what you thought!
> 
> come talk to me and leave asks @abitcriminalminds on tumblr!!


End file.
